CHANGING CHINA

Evening Post, Issue 122, 26 May 1933, Page 3

CHANGING CHINA

A MONARCHY AGAIN?

PU-YI AND THE THRONE

JAPANESE SCHEMES

"What aro the chance of Mr. Henry Pu-yi, the former boy Emperor of China and.now: head of tho puppet State of ■ Manchukuo, regaining the throne that he lost in 1911 when ho was forced to abdicate by the Chinese revolutionaries, headed by the lato Dr. Sun Vat-sen? This question is to the fore owing to the Japanese invasion of Jehol, the only province outsido the Great Wall that is still loyal to tho National Government in Nanking, and also to persistent reports from Manchuria that the' Japanese are backing Pu-yi for a restoration movement in China proper (writes J. C. Sun. in the "San Francisco Chronicle ")• /When Pu-yi.was abducted from his Tientsin home in November, 1931, by Colonel Doshihara, to Manchuria, it was agreed between the latter, who represented tho Japanese military in Mukden, and Mr. Cheng Hsiao-hsi, Pu-yi's tutor and a confirmed Monarchist, that the Japanese should help the former boy Emperor to re-establish his dynasty in Manchuria, but subsequent developments upset their programme. Ib. Manchuria Cheng found that popular sentiment was against a return of the Monarchy. Although it is the ancestral home of the Manchus, Manchuria, has. more Chinese than Manchus; in fact, over .85 per cent, of the 30,000,000 people in Manchuria are Chinese, while even the small minority of Manchus and Mongols arc not keen for a change to tho old order. Realising this sentiment, the Japanese military, authorities decided to make the new State, which they had been promoting ever since they took action in September, 1931, Republican in form, though out of respect for the Monarchist leanings of ■ many of Pn-yi's followers, they gave:him the title" of Chief Executive or Regent instead of the: Republican title of- President. USEFUL TOOL. Both Pu-yi and his tutor, Cheng Hsiao-hsi, who is now Premier in the Manchukuo Government, know very well that the Japanese put Pu-yi at the head of the new State merely because they found in him a convenient tool in perfecting their scheme of annexing, Manchuria to the island Empire. They also know that as soon as the time is ripe Japan will formally annex Manehukuo and treat Pu-yi as it did the last ruler of the Li dynasty in Korea. That Pu-yi is not comfortable in tho position into which he.was pitchforked by the Japanese militarists is indicated by reports coming to North China during the last few months. These reports make it clear that Pu-yi and his supporters are impatient with the treatment* they receive at thohandsof their Japanese advisers, who are the real masters of : the Government, and long to .return to China. It is also said that the Japanese military authorities, sens-ing-this sentiment, were quick to come to an agreement whereby they pledgo to support Pu-yi's return to North China, at the head of a' resuscitated dynasty in. return for the annexation of Manchuria. Colour is given to this report by the fact that during recent months Japanese news agencies in China have repeatedly circulated reports that many prominent retired military leaders in Tientsin:. and other parts of North China were working for the overthrow of the National Government in NanKing'nnd the restoration of the Man.chu.^dynasty, with Henry Pu-yi as Eiuyefor.yv - \ ;-,.' '. .•, . ■ '.'':'.'''."■, ', In November, when the' Panchan Lania, the ''spiritual head of Tibet, was .conducting, a national peace prayer meeting here, the Japanese news agencies seized on the presence of retired mijitary leaders like Tua Chi-jui, Wu Pei-fu, and Sun Chuan-fang to shovv that a Monarchial conspiracy was on foot. j NANKING PERTURBED. The Japanese also linked the name of. Marshal Feng Yu-hsiang with the alleged '■, Monarchial restoration movementi and Nanking was os perturbed by these rumours^that its Foreign Minister (Dr. Lo Wen-kan) sent a personal telegram to the former Kudminchim commander, asking whether "there was any truth in these rumours. Feng made a prompt denial, pointing to his past anti-Monarchical record to show that he would bo the last person in China to support a restoration movement. The rumours died away, but during the last few days they havo been revived until now ; everyone is discussing the possibility of Pu-yi 'a return to Peking as the head of the so-called Later Chmg dynasty. This is no doubt due to the Japanese invasion of Jehol and fear;that it may extend to the Peking-Tientsin area, for if the Japanese occupy Peking it is deemed, certain that-they will place Pu-yi on the dragon throne to get rid of him in. Manchuria. It is difficult to foretell what the reaction of the public will bo if Pu-yi is restored to the dragon throne. There may still bo some people in North China that yearn for the return of the Monarchy, but they are a small minority and do not count in public affairs.. It is true that tho story of twenty-pnfe years of Republican rule; is a very sorry one. Instead of the promised blessings of freedom, . liberty, and equality,, the people- havo suffered all. sorts iof disappointment and disillusion, but despite the turmoil and political confusion of the last twentyone years, the Republican idea has struck root in the minds ff the people, and if there is any longing in the land it is for peace through the working out of : the' Republican idea rather than through a return to the old order. THREAT TO PEACE. The Monarchy is dead for another reason: Pu-yi shows no promise of being a capable ruler and is generally rated as .a. mediocrity, while among the former Manchu aristocracy there is no outstanding leader. But the absence of Royalist sentiment'; does not, precludo the possibility of Pu-yi's return. It all depends upon the intentions of the Japanese military, and present indications are that they are. determined to help. Pu-yi to regain his throne. The danger of this move lies in its threat to the integrity and peace of China. Tho Japaneso military leaders may think tho Chinese people have suffered enough from tho Republican rule of the last twenty-one years to desire a return to the old regimo, and it is possible that for a time the Chinese people would accept a change without open opposition, but there; can be.no doubt about the ulti-ma'to-outcome of such-a course. Sooner or , later the country would rise against the Monarchy, and if it takes years for the Japanese to clean up Chinese volunteers in Manchuria, it will certainly take decades for them to bring'peace and order to China. Moreover,, if Chinese history teaches any lesson, it-is that the Chinese people will always be able to conquer their own conquerors in the end.